Sweden’s 50 trawlers with license to catch cod in the Baltic will have their quotas allotted for a whole year, the Board of Fisheries has proposed.
After gradually stepping up the given period from what used to be a week to a quarter-year in 2010, the Board now hopes that rations for a full year will mean less discards and provide better opportunities for fishermen to plan their work.
The proposal, now on public consultation that will close on 20 January, also contains some new openings for small-scale coastal fisheries.
There are no catch limits for net or long line fisheries, but the fraction of the Swedish national quota that has been set aside for those has not been fully utilised in recent years. Therefore, the Board of Fisheries says, there is room for licensing some new fishermen in this artisanal sector.